


Benkaru 30 Day Challenge

by oliverhamptons



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7684297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliverhamptons/pseuds/oliverhamptons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I watched Star Trek Beyond a week ago and I fell so hard for the Sulu family that I decided to do  <a href="http://empresshoshisato.tumblr.com/post/148376479561/benkaru-30-day-challenge-this-is-a-30-day">empresshoshisato's 30 day benkaru challenge</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Date Night

Ben had gotten the call from his husband two weeks ago to let him know that the Enterprise would be docking in Yorktown for a couple of days while she refuelled. Along with the message were strict instructions to be ready at 6 o’clock sharp for ‘collection’ as Hikaru had so delicately put it.

While he didn’t consider himself to be particularly vain, Ben had spent far too long trying to pick out an outfit for the evening. Usually he’d have Demora’s input on what looked ‘cool’ but Ben had dropped her off at her friend’s house for a sleepover almost 2 hours ago. And while the fashion opinions of a hyperactive four-year-old (or four years five-month year old as Demora liked to remind him) were not perfect, Ben always appreciated their daughter’s advice.

He and Hikaru had both agreed not to tell Demora that her dad was coming home tonight so the two of them could finally find the time to fit in their frequently rescheduled date. So here he was at 5:57pm, still fussing in front of the mirror over a loose strand of hair that just wouldn’t sit right on his head. It was a minute detail, something that he really shouldn’t have been worried about except for the fact that he hadn’t seen his husband in the flesh in so long and he just wanted everything to be perfect.

The sharp rapping at the door finally made him pull his gaze away from the mirror to glance over to the clock. 6pm exactly. Well he did always love to be precise Ben smiled to himself before striding over to the door and opening it.

“Good evening.” Hikaru greeted him with a fond smile from the other side of the door. He was dressed in a crisp black suit and a matching tie. His hands crossed behind his back smartly as he stood firm, radiating a complete air of confidence. If it wasn’t such an old school cliché Ben would have admitted to the slight fluttering in his chest and the way his breath caught in his throat upon the sight.

“I’m looking for a Mr. Ben Sulu,” Hikaru continued, his voice far more composed that how Ben felt. “I heard he’d be here.”

“Well you’re in luck.” Ben smiled. “Let me just get my jacket.” He nodded, pushing the door a little so he could reach for his jacket that was currently hanging on the coatrack.

It was at that point that Hikaru’s serious composure dropped and he poked his head around the door with a playful grin. “You mean to tell me I flew in from space and I’m still ready before you.”

“Hey, you didn’t have an overexcited child you had to help get ready for a sleepover.” Ben tried to argue, sliding his arms into his jacket.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow before responding in a completely deadpan tone. “We had Jim.” 

Ben laughed, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, you win.” 

When he turned back to walk out the door Hikaru was still stood in the doorway watching him with such an intense and loving gaze it almost brought colour to Ben’s cheeks. Before he could say anything Hikaru spoke up again. “You look great by the way. Better than I imagined.” 

This time the colour did rise to Ben’s cheeks, a soft pink forming over his skin. “Thank you, Hikaru.” He smiled, stepping forward to kiss his husband properly for the first time in months. “You look great too, by the way.” He echoed, causing Hikaru to grin widely.

“Let’s get going, we’ve got a reservation to meet.” Hikaru smiled, slipping his hand into Ben’s comfortably as they left the house.

-  


Over dinner they spoke about Demora, how much she’d grown since the last time Hikaru had been on Yorktown, and the Enterprise, everything that Hikaru had seen over the last few months. What they didn’t speak about was how hard it was to only be able to talk to each other through the screens of their PADDs and the fact that they’d go so long without touching each other they were afraid they would forget what it felt like. They didn’t need to talk about it. The “I missed you” and “I can’t believe how much I’m missing” stayed unspoken but they were still there under every story, every smile, every touch.

After their meals they shared a dessert, lazily feeding each other a spoonful at a time. It may not have been some big fancy night away, but that wasn’t what was important to Ben, the most important thing was that his husband was home even if only for a few days. When they were younger Hikaru would promise him the stars, tell him about all these incredible places that he’d take him and Ben would just smile, and tell him he didn’t need all that. All he needed was Hikaru. It didn’t matter to him whether they were on Earth, Yorktown or some far off planet covered in the most beautiful plants either of them could ever hope to see. All that matter to him, to both of them, was that they had each other, and Demora, and that they were all safe.


	2. Fluffy Kisses

Hikaru giggled happily, writhing against the sheets of his bed as his husband pathed a trail of kisses starting from his forehead, continuing along the curve of his cheekbone, and down his neck. It was the way that Ben’s lips brushed over the smooth expanse of his collarbone in particular that had Hikaru squirming like a lovesick teenager all over again.

Two days. That’s how long it had been since Krall’s attempt to destroy Yorktown, two days of intense panic and worry at the thought of having possibly lost his family, but now things were slowly starting to get back to normal. Maybe he still hugged Demora a little too tight and maybe he spent last night clutching at Ben’s back as he slept, scared that if he let go the other man to disappear. But that fear was beginning to subside, and now all Hikaru wanted to do was enjoy every single moment he was going to spend with his family.

It seemed that Ben had a similar idea as he focused his attention on pressing a single kiss to every inch of Hikaru’s skin he could reach. After each kiss came a muffled vibration against his skin that soon became too frequent for Hikaru to ignore.

“What are you doing?” Hikaru smiled lazily, running the tips of his fingers through Ben’s thick hair, trying to get him to look up.

“Counting.” Came Ben’s response into Hikaru’s shoulder.

“Counting what?”

“We’ve missed… 966 days’… worth of kisses.” Ben told him matter-of-factly between three more kisses before he raised his head with a smile. “I’ve got to catch up.”

“With 966 kisses.” Hikaru chuckled in realisation. “You know that’s going to take you a while. How about we break up those 966 kisses into a more manageable number?”

“You mean like 96 kisses a day, spread out over ten days?” 

“Well that does sound more manageable.” Hikaru hummed with a smirk, pulling Ben down to meet his lips in the first proper kiss they’d shared since getting into bed.

“…24…” Ben whispered quietly once their lips had parted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short but if I made it any longer the amount of fluff would have rotted my teeth


	3. With their daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i missed a day please take this [hikaru sulu moodboard](http://girlwhovian.tumblr.com/post/148636721561/character-moodboards-hikaru-sulu-this-is) i made as a token of my gratitude

“Pew, pew, pew.” Demora shouted, creating her own noises for the plastic toy phaser she was currently holding in her hands as she pretended to fire it down the length of the hallway at her Daddy and Papa who dodged her shots behind doors and cabinets. As soon as they both jumped up from out of their hiding positions, Demora turned and bounded up the stairs in an attempt to escape. 

“This is Captain Sulu.” She spoke into her free hand as if it was a communicator. “They found me… but I’m looking for cover now.” 

The three of them were playing a game of ‘Romulans’, a game that she had created after her Uncle Jim enthusiastically told her the story of how he and Spock had saved Captain Pike from near death – much to Ben’s horror. Thankfully for him, Demora hadn’t been scared by the story, if anything she had been inspired by it, eyes lighting up in fascination as Jim spoke. Several hours later when Demora was still bouncing around excitedly and pretending she was rescuing her toys instead of changing into her pyjamas, Jim shot Ben an apologetic look and excused himself for the night.

It wasn’t that Ben wasn’t proud of his husband and his friends, it was just that he didn’t always like Hikaru bringing his work home, especially the times when his work involved deadly battles with alien species. Demora, on the other hand, loved to hear about her Dad’s adventures. When Hikaru was home she would often crawl into his lap, lay her head on his chest and demand he recount one. Despite his husband’s initial protests to the idea, Hikaru would give in easily with one flash of Demora’s puppy eyes and narrate revised versions of his adventures on the Enterprise (with any unsuitable details taken out of course).

“I know that Earthling must be here somewhere.” Hikaru spoke in an animated voice as he crept up the stairs slowly.

Glancing through the slits in the stair bannister he noticed that his and Ben’s bedroom door was open just a crack, with another glance down he could also make out a faint shadow on the floor. Got her. Turning back to Ben with a grin the two men devised a plan to outwit their daughter before Hikaru hopped up the remain steps, walking loudly down the corridor as if he were headed to Demora’s room.

“Now where could that Earthling girl have gone?” He thought aloud, enunciating his words with a playful tone. 

With her father’s back to her, Demora took the opportunity to jump out from around the door, pointing her toy phaser in his direction.  
“I got you.” She cheered triumphantly. 

Hikaru raised his hands above his head, turning on his heels slowly to face his daughter with a sly smirk. “Now.” He called out.

Before Demora could ask him what he was doing Ben had ascended the final few steps on the stairs to grab his daughter from behind, wrapping one arm around her chest as he hauled her into the air. “Not so fast.” He grinned.

“Papa!” Demora squealed happily, breaking character as she tried to wiggle out of Ben’s strong grip.

“Prepare for the oncoming attack.” Ben chuckled before covering Demora’s cheek and nose with soft pecks, making her squeal even louder in delight.

Hikaru watched the two of them with a soft smile before running over, resting a hand on Demora’s legs to keep her steady as he set to work covering the other side of her face with kisses. Demora laughed loudly between them, wrapping an arm around each of her fathers' necks as they slowed down their onslaught.

"Love you Daddy." She hummed, kissing Hikaru's cheek before turning her head to do the same to Ben. "Love you, Papa."

"Love you too, Dee." The two men echoed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i loved the initial idea of this but then i really didn't like how it turned out so i'm sorry if it sucks


	4. How they met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> okay so this chapter was inspired by my own headcanon of ["what if the first time hikaru meets ben he notices the other man has grass stained knees and his mind immediately goes to the wrong place"](https://twitter.com/0LIVERHAMPTON/status/763519577926041600)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm posting this at 2am so i'm sorry if there's any mistakes (plus sorry it's a day late)

Hikaru rubbed his eyes tiredly with one hand as he left his weekly study session with his fellow classmates, the other hand was grasped tightly around his mountain of books and binders. His final piloting theory exam was coming up next week and it was the most important one of them all, if he didn’t pass this with flying colours he wouldn’t be allowed to move onto practical flight practice, something he had dreamed of for so long. The stress had been piling up for days now so Hikaru had decided to take a trip through the Academy’s botanical garden on his way back to his dorm room in the hopes that it would help to calm him. 

As he turned the corner he collided head first with another person coming from the opposite direction, causing his books and binders full of notes to fly into the air before falling back down with a thud, littering the corridor floor with sheets of paper. Hikaru let out a deflated sigh, great, this was the last thing he needed today. It would take forever for him to organise each sheet back into its correct place and he really didn’t have the time for that, not when he was supposed to preparing for his piloting exam. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m… I’m so sorry.” The other man stammered, obviously embarrassed about what had just happened, before he immediately knelt down to start collecting up the loose sheets of paper.

Hikaru was ready to make some kind of sarcastic comment about the other guy not paying attention but as he seemed to be genuinely sincere he decided to hold it back and instead drop to his knees too, silently gathering up the rest of his sheets. 

Whilst they both scrambled to pick up all the pieces of paper from the floor before some other student stood on them their hands reached out for the same final piece of paper, fingers brushing against each other before they suddenly pulled back. 

Hikaru slowly lifted his gaze up from the floor, along the length of the man’s arm to his neck before finally reaching his face. When he did, he caught the other man looking back at him, a small smile plastered on his face. Before he could open his mouth to say anything the man had reached to pick up the piece of paper again, holding it out for Hikaru to take. “Here you go.” 

“T-thanks.” Hikaru smiled bashfully, completely forgetting his initial annoyance as he instead tried to focused on ignoring the slight flutter he felt in his chest when the other man smiled at him.

As he gently took the piece of paper from the other man’s hands he couldn’t help but notice the light green stains around his nails and pads of his fingertips. Although Hikaru knew that rationally it was probably some kind of grass stain he found himself thinking of the similarities between that and the green tinge that sometimes rose on a Vulcan’s skin.

“You’re blushing like a Vulcan.” Hikaru chuckled to himself. Or at least he thought it was to himself until he heard the other man laugh. But oh what a laugh it was, so soft and gentle, Hikaru suddenly found the urge to want to make him laugh like that again.

“Oh yeah that.” The other man smiled again, looking down at his own hand. “I’ve just spent some time in the gardens. I hope I didn’t get your papers dirty.”  
Hikaru shook his head quickly. “No, no, I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Good. I really am sorry about…that.” 

“Don’t be, it was an accident, really no harm done.” Hikaru waved his hand in front of him in a dismissing motion.

The other man smiled in relief. “I’m um… I’m Ben by the way.”

“Hikaru.” 

“Let me help you up, Hikaru.” Ben offered, the name rolling off his tongue with a sense of ease and familiarity as if he’d said it hundreds of times before. He held out his hand, watching Hikaru with a smile as he clutched his books to his chest protectively in one hand while taking Ben’s with the other, letting him pull him to his feet.

“Thanks.” Hikaru smiled, still holding Ben’s hand tightly in his own for a few seconds longer than necessary. Now that they were both stood up Hikaru noticed the height difference, Ben was only a couple of inches taller than him but his shoulders were also broader. Catching Ben’s eyes on him again Hikaru flushed, pulling his hand back to wrap around his books to avoid embarrassing himself any further.

“So uh… you said you were in the gardens right?” Hikaru asked, his eyes looking anywhere but Ben’s face, in the end glancing down to the green stains on Ben’s knees that stood out easily on his otherwise clean black trousers. “W-what were you doing in there?” He raised an eyebrow as the corner of his mouth also lifted into a bit of a smirk.

Ben looked at him quizzically, noting the change in Hikaru’s expression. Was he flirting with him? Was he flirting with him through the topic of plants? He slowly glanced down, try to figure out what Hikaru had seen that caused the change in reaction. Oh. His eyes immediately found the bright green stains. 

“T-that’s… That’s not what it looks like, oh god, no.” Ben rambled, this wasn’t exactly the first impression he had wanted to make. “It’s not what it looks like, I swear.”

Hikaru found himself chuckling, hiding the lower half of his face with his books as he watched the colour come to Ben’s cheeks.

“It’s okay, I’m just messing with you.” Hikaru grinned. “I actually like to go to the gardens a lot too. For the plants.” He added on quickly. “They help me to relax, especially with all this work.”

“I don’t know about you but I always find a good cup of coffee really hits the spot too. You know, when work gets a bit overwhelming.” Ben hummed, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Is that an invitation?” Hikaru asked with a smile.

“Is that an acceptance?” Ben countered.

“Yes, I believe it is.” Hikaru nodded happily. “But you’re paying.”

“Why me?” 

“Because you’re the one who almost knocked me off my feet, I’m still in shock.” Hikaru grinned. And he was right. Ben had almost knocked him off his feet, and in more ways than one.


	5. Cuddling

Spending so much of your time in a confined area with others really helps to form bonds between those around you, and being on the Enterprise is no different. Hikaru felt like he had another family with the bridge crew, with every mission bringing them closer together than the one before it. 

After almost seven years since their first mission the crew had seen each other grow enormously, heard each other’s stories, learnt about their families both old and new. Almost every member of the bridge had been completely captivated by the images of Demora that Hikaru had sent to them a few days after she had been born. They had all been so happy for their friend and while away they would make sure Hikaru found them time to call home on his PADD; often Jim or Chekhov would appear behind Hikaru, waving at Demora through the screen while asking her apart her day.

At this point they knew almost everything about Hikaru. Almost. One thing they didn’t know, and Hikaru hoped they’d never know, was that Hikaru Sulu was a massive cuddler.  
The first few days after returning for shore leave are when he’s at his worst. Ben can barely walk a few yards without feeling Hikaru’s arms wrapped around him, face resting on his shoulder or nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Not that Ben’s complaining at all. In fact, he quite enjoys it, especially after being starved of his husband’s affection for months on end.

-

It happens the first night Hikaru’s home for shore leave.

Ben was flipping through movies for them to watch, finally settling on an old rom-com while Hikaru put Demora to bed. She had demanded no less than three bedtime stories from her Daddy before eventually falling asleep mid-way through the second one. 

“Did she go down okay?” Ben asked as his husband wandered back into the living room.

“Out like a light.” Hikaru smiled, letting himself collapse onto the couch with a sigh. He immediately turned his body into Ben’s, laying his head on his shoulder while Ben wrapped his arm around Hikaru’s shoulder in return before hitting play.

Throughout the film Hikaru kept shifting himself, first draping one leg over Ben’s knees, then a couple of minutes later he lifted his second to do the same as if trying to get even closer to him. In the end Ben pulled him into his lap, pressing a quick kiss to Hikaru’s forehead, in the hopes it would settle him. And it did. Hikaru relaxed completely, tucking his head under Ben’s chin as he curled against his chest, Ben’s arms wrapped tightly around him.

The two of them slept the same way that night, arms circling each other’s bodies and legs intertwined as they held one another close.

-

It happens again the next morning when Ben’s trying to cook breakfast. 

Hikaru wakes to the smell of coffee and an empty bed. He slides out of bed with a tired groan, padding quietly into the kitchen where he finds his husband stood in front of the oven, robe tied loosely around his waist as he fried some bacon.

Leaning himself against the doorframe, Hikaru felt content to watch him like this for several minutes before his needs finally got the better of him and he found himself walking across the room to reach him. 

“Good morning.” Ben hummed softly as he felt those familiar arms slide around his waist, the weight of Hikaru’s body leaning against his back.

“Hhmm.” Comes Hikaru’s reply against the material of Ben’s robe. He lifts his head to press a quick closed mouth kiss to Ben’s neck before closing his eyes gently as hugged Ben tightly from behind.

Ben’s continues preparing breakfast with more limited movements, if something’s too far to reach from where he’s stood Hikaru just moves with him, almost mimicking his actions. He can never push Hikaru away, especially not when he’s like this. He learnt very quickly that needy husband is always better than grumpy husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again this was posted at almost 2am so i'm sorry if there's any mistakes


	6. Exploring Space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I took this title with a pinch of salt so it might not be what you were expected but as soon as I thought of the idea I fell in love with it and I hope you will too.

"Hiki, what are we doing out here? It's freezing." Ben grumbled, crossing his arms tightly across the front of his chest as he followed his boyfriend outside into their small back garden. He was halted in his steps when he caught sight of what Hikaru had wanted to show him.

"Surprise." Hikaru grinned nervously. He was stood next to a small tent which he had decorated on the inside with a string of lights as well as a plethora of cushions and blankets to make it more comfortable.

"What's all this?" Ben smiled softly, letting his hands fall to his sides as he stepped closer to take a look.

"Well..." Hikaru hummed, reaching both hands out to take hold of Ben's, squeezing them gently. "You know I'm leaving tomorrow and I wanted to do something nice for you. I thought we could sleep out under the stars." He blushed a little, playing with Ben's hands as he spoke. "I can show you exactly where I'm going to go and then if you start to miss me, well I hope you'll start to miss me, you can look up at the stars and know I'll be there."

Ben felt at a loss for words and quickly stepped forward, closing the gap between them as he leaned in to press his lips tenderly to Hikaru's. He let go of the other man's hands to instead slid his arms around Hikaru's lower back while Hikaru lifted his own arms to hang loosely around Ben's neck.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Ben whispered gently once they parted.

Hikaru just smiled, placing one last kiss to Ben's lips before he stepped back. "Come make yourself comfy, there's supposed to be a meteor shower soon."

They started out sitting on the edge of the tent, legs crossed as they sat side by side, watching the sky for the impending meteor shower. Once that was over they found themselves laying on their backs, the lower half of their bodies inside the tent while their upper bodies were out of it so they could easily look up at the sky. Hikaru did most of the talking, reeling of fact after fact he had learnt at the academy, telling Ben the history of the planets in their solar system as well as the ones out of it. While Ben wasn't as much of an avid fan of exploring the galaxy, he could still appreciate the beauty of space.

After a while, Ben drew his gaze away from the sky, instead turning his head gently to watch as Hikaru spoke so passionately about the different constellations and planets right above their heads. Ben had known that there was a piece of Hikaru that always belonged to the stars but now he was starting to realise that there was a piece of the stars that belonged to Hikaru.

They two of them had avoided talking about the upcoming mission in the most part, there was no reason to make the departure any harder than it was already going to be. Hikaru had thought that some big going away speech would make the whole thing seem too final, he had promised to call Ben at every possible opportunity and Ben had just nodded, telling Hikaru that he wanted him to enjoy himself and not worry too much about him.

Most people may have put up a bit more of a fight when faced with the news that their significant other would be leaving the planet for months, some may even try to convince them not to go. But not Ben. As soon as Hikaru was called to stand in as helmsman on the USS Enterprise Ben had been nothing but supportive, he knew how much this meant to his boyfriend and he was never going to be the one to stand in the way of his dream.

Tomorrow Hikaru would leave for his first mission, he would do and see incredible things that he just would never have the chance to do if he stayed on Earth, and Ben just prayed that at the end of it all he'd still want to come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kind comments and kudos, it's the perfect encouragement to keep me doing this. Sorry this chapter is a day late, I promise I'll make it up to you somewhere along the line.


	7. NSFW

Hikaru Sulu never took a single one of his husband’s touches for granted. Not the way Ben would brush his fingers over his as he passed him his morning coffee. Not the way Ben’s arm would curl around his waist in a breezily possessive manner when they walked down the street. And especially not the way that Ben would turn him into a whimpering mess using only his hands.

His hands. Hikaru loved Ben’s hands. 

He didn’t care how weird it sounded to other people, from the very first day they met, Hikaru had been completely drawn to Ben’s hands. He remembered gripping to his books as if his life depended on it just to stop himself from reaching out to intertwine their fingers as they walked.

Hikaru honestly believed his husband’s hands were magic. One night, while they laid in bed catching their breaths, the sheets hung loosely across their hips, he even told him so. Ben just laughed him off the same way he has done every other time Hikaru had said it, with a warm smile and a fond look in his eyes.

-

Being millions of miles away from his husband for months on end was tough, the emotional toll of it would get to Hikaru quite quickly if he let himself dwell on everything he was missing at home. Thankfully he could still make video calls, which gave him the opportunity to see Ben’s smile, hear his voice as he recounted his day; and while it didn’t necessarily make it any easier, at least it made the longing feeling more bearable. 

The one thing that the video calls didn’t help was the desire to reach out and touch his hands, being able to feel Ben’s skin against his own.  
Hikaru would often lay in his bed craving Ben’s touch. Some nights it would just be the feeling of Ben’s arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him as he slept. Other nights it would be more than that. Other nights he would lay in bed, yearning for the feeling of Ben’s hands over his body, the way he stroked his fingers over Hikaru’s skin, making him shiver in excitement. 

Of course he had a number of implements to help relieve the burning desire coursing through his body but none of those compared to the real thing. None of them compared to Ben.

Ben who could be so gentle, taking his time to map every inch of Hikaru’s skin with his lips, keeping him on the edge for hours before finally giving him mercy.

Ben who could also be rough, pining Hikaru’s hands above his bed with one hand, making him come over his stomach completely untouched.

Ben who could make him crumble beneath his touch before putting him back together again, piece by piece.


	8. Flower Shop AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry that this is so late but I've been really busy with a level results/packing for uni but I'll try my best to get my chapters done this week.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no.” Hikaru groaned under his breath, dodging the oncoming pedestrians and obstacles in his way as he ran down the street.

While he knew this was partly his own fault - okay maybe entirely his fault – he couldn’t help but silently curse whatever deity had decided to bring about this bout of bad luck on him. 

-

“ _You have one new event scheduled for tomorrow at 8am._ ” The electronic voice from his PADD announced to the room.

“Read it to me.” Hikaru responded with a sigh, undoing the knot of his tie before tugging the material over his head.

“ _Mom’s birthday, scheduled for tomorrow._ ” 

Hikaru felt his heart sink in his chest, it wasn’t that he had forgotten his mother’s birthday, just more than it had seemed to come around sooner than he had expected. Tomorrow he was supposed to go to his parents’ house to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday and he hadn’t even managed to remember to buy her a gift. 

There weren’t many stores within walking distance of his apartment, especially not any stores that would supply gifts good enough to impress Hikaru’s mother. And even if there were, it was getting closer and closer to 6pm, there was no way he’d manage to even look around one store in time. The only thing he could think to do was send a mass message out to every one of his local friends, practically pleading with them to offer up suggestions. 

Thankfully the replies came back quickly and Hikaru decided the best one to go with was flowers from a new shop that had opened up only a couple of months ago. Apparently the owner was called Ben and he had the best botany knowledge, according to one of the women Hikaru worked with anyway.

-

And that’s how he found himself here, running to a small flower shop he’d never even heard of before, situated on the opposite side of town, just praying that the owner would still be there to help him out in this time of need.

He rounded the corner sharply, almost running head first into another man carrying a potted gladiolus plant under one arm.

“Woah there, speedy.” The other guy chuckled as Hikaru came to a fault in front of him.

Hikaru took a deep breath, glancing between the man and the door he had just stepped out of before speaking. “You own this place… the flower shop? You’re Ben, right?” 

“That’s me.” Ben nodded.

“I really need your help. It’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow and I totally forgot about it, yes I know I’m a terrible son, please don’t judge me. I just really need your help in getting her the perfect gift.” Hikaru almost begged, looking up at Ben with an expectant look.

“Well I was just closing up…” Ben started, noticing the way the other man’s face dropped in disappointment. “But…I’m sure I could spare a few more minutes for a cute guy in need.” 

Hikaru’s mouth turned into a grin, he’d only come for the flowers but he supposed he could give himself the luxury of a bit of flirting with the guy too. “Great. You’re a life saver.”

“Don’t speak too soon, we’ve still got a big job ahead of us.” Ben smiled, unlocking the door to the shop again, leading Hikaru inside the building.

-

And it was a big job indeed. Ben had taken him around the whole shop, passionately describing each and every flower and their meanings. Hikaru kept finding himself distracted from the actual plants, too busy focused on the smile the lit up Ben’s face when he spoke about some of his favourite flowers in the shop. A couple of times he even caught Ben looking back at him, stumbling over his words a little as if he’d almost forgotten what he was talking about. 

Hikaru couldn’t help but find it endearing, the more Ben did it the more satisfied he was that his forgetfulness had brought him here. He almost felt sad when Ben finished, leaving him to make a decision on what to buy. 

In the end, he eventually chose the Muktok plant, partly because of the pleasant smell they produced but more because of the way Ben had gently placed a hand on his back guiding him down to smell it in the first place.

“How much do I owe you for this?” Hikaru asked as he watched Ben carefully wrapped placed the plant into a decorative pot.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me.” Ben smiled across at him.

“Oh no, I can’t let you do that, I don’t want you to be losing profit because of me.”

“Technically, it’s out of work hours. Think of it as a gift, or if it makes you feel better I’ll take an I owe you. Preferably in the form of a date.” Ben smiled coyly, watching Hikaru closely for any sign of objection.

“A date it is.” Hikaru beamed, grabbing one of the empty greeting cards from the desk and scribbled down his number before slipping the card into Ben’s shirt pocket. “Call me.” He smirked, picking up the plant as he left the store with a grin, already thinking about the next birthday he could conveniently forget.

-

The next year, when the Sulu family gathered around Kalea and Hosato’s dinner table to celebrate Kalea’s 61st birthday, there was an extra place setting next to Hikaru especially for Ben; where he recounted the story of how they met – minus the part about Hikaru’s forgetting his mother’s birthday of course.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously as this is 30 days ideally I should post a new chapter ever day but we all know I'm a procrastinating piece of trash so that probably won't happen but I'll try my best.
> 
> In the meantime come and cry with me over how beautiful this family is on [twitter](https://twitter.com/0LIVERHAMPTON/with_replies) / [tumblr](http://girlwhovian.tumblr.com/)


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